VentureSouq, the UAE-based investment firm focused on early stage technology businesses, unveiled a $50 million venture fund that will target the FinTech sector.
The company's Mena FinTech Fund I will support FinTech and software-as-a-service companies. The fund is backed by major regional investment houses, including Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company, DisruptAD, the venture capital platform of Abu Dhabi's holding company ADQ, Saudi Arabia's Jada Fund of Funds and Saudi Venture Capital Company, Bahrain’s Al Waha Fund of Funds and OFC, the Middle East investment arm of The Olayan Group.
It will focus on key subsectors such as payments infrastructure, alternative credit, digital banking, property technology, insurance technology and personal financial management, and will work closely with regional entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of leading financial disruption.
The evolution of the Mena's FinTech ecosystem is still in its "very early days" but the sector's foundational layers of are beginning to face disruption, Suneel Gokhale, a general partner at VentureSouq, said.
"Our view is that now is a great time to be investing in what we think will be the next batch of FinTech unicorns [start-ups with a valuation of $1 billion or more]," Mr Gokhale told The National on Sunday.
"We think it was a matter of time; you have FinTechs challenging incumbents across the globe through better user experiences and less friction, and in the end better products that hack distribution more times than not will win.
"Consumers and businesses here in Mena want to benefit from that as well and now we are at a point in time where talent, access to capital and government/regulatory support is very strong, resulting in the rapid emergence of FinTech challengers, which is especially true here in the UAE, which is now universally regarded as a great place to build a business and a life."
The region's FinTech sector continues to gain traction as more consumers turn to digital payments services, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, presenting an opportunity for companies, particularly start-ups, to provide new and additional services to cater to the growing demand.
In the Middle East, one out of every four investment deals in 2021 was in FinTech, which accounted for roughly a third of all the funding raised – $2.1 billion in 220 deals – according to a report by consultancy firm RedSeer.
Online sales − a key vertical for FinTech – in the Mena region are expected to triple to $28.5bn by 2022 from $8.3bn in 2017, recent research from Bain & Company showed.
VentureSouq's fund has been deploying capital into start-ups across Mena and Pakistan. Its investments include UAE FinTech platforms Baraka, FlexxPay, NymCard and Verity, Pakistan's Creditbook, PostEx and Abhi Finance.
The fund also invested in Egypt's transport platform Trella, gig economy financial platform Dayra and Algeria-based ride-hailing app Yassir, along with other companies that will be announced in the coming months.
Consumers and businesses here in Mena want to benefit and now we are at a point in time where talent, access to capital and government/regulatory support is very strong resulting in the rapid emergence of FinTech challengers
Suneel Gokhale,
general partner at VentureSouq
"As the first vertical venture fund in Mena, it was critical to assemble the right LP [limited partner] base. We needed partners that would both understand where the region currently sits on the evolutionary curve, but also that could help our portfolio companies navigate the challenging regulatory and funding terrain in Mena," Maan Eshgi, a general partner at VentureSouq, said.
"For us to get the outcomes we need, our portfolio companies need to access not just a single market, but the entire Mena region. We believe we have the right stakeholders to help make access to that broader market a reality.”
Founded in 2016, VentureSouq has operations in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and has invested in more than 200 companies worldwide.
The%20specs
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The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
More on animal trafficking
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Five ways to get fit like Craig David (we tried for seven but ran out of time)
Start the week as you mean to go on. So get your training on strong on a Monday.
Train hard, but don’t take it all so seriously that it gets to the point where you’re not having fun and enjoying your friends and your family and going out for nice meals and doing that stuff.
Think about what you’re training or eating a certain way for — don’t, for example, get a six-pack to impress somebody else or lose weight to conform to society’s norms. It’s all nonsense.
Get your priorities right.
And last but not least, you should always, always chill on Sundays.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs: 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn
Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 556Nm @ 3,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
CABINET%20OF%20CURIOSITIES%20EPISODE%201%3A%20LOT%2036
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGuillermo%20del%20Toro%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tim%20Blake%20Nelson%2C%20Sebastian%20Roche%2C%20Elpidia%20Carrillo%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
UJDA CHAMAN
Produced: Panorama Studios International
Directed: Abhishek Pathak
Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Grusha Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Rating: 3.5 /5 stars
